Monday, October 28, 2013

LONDON - From Eurosport, even too kind article.
In the mountains of Switzerland, there is a very special kind of marathon race held every year. In the morning competitors are bussed up to the top of a mountain, whereupon they proceed to run 26.2 miles back down to the picturesque Alpine valley where they started their day. Needless to say, competitors regularly post times several minutes quicker than they would otherwise be capable of.
They're still running a marathon, of course. It's still a long, gruelling experience that demands both physical and mental toughness, and during which things can go wrong. But nonetheless, it's a lot, lot easier than, say, running the same distance on the deceptively hilly streets of New York.
And that's very much how Motorhead sees Sebastian Vettel's achievement in winning four consecutive world titles. Sure, he's won another marathon. He did so in incredibly impressive fashion. But we need to look closely at the race he was actually running - because when considered objectively, there's no doubt that Vettel had so many advantages that he might as well have been driving downhill.
It's always seems very bad taste to use the occasion of a sportsman celebrating their greatest glory to point out that their achievement isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Yet that's exactly what this blog is about to do because the trouble is, in the case of Sebastian Vettel, the opposite is true at the moment. Everybody is loudly declaring him a genius of unimpeachable historical significance [not really everybody... almost nobody], without stopping to consider properly what it is that he's done.
Even as he crossed the line to win the Indian Grand Prix and secure a fourth consecutive title, Red Bull chief Christian Horner came onto the radio to tell his man that "you're one of the greats now". Around the world, newspapers and website published their painstakingly-prepared hagiographies of a driver who has been hailed as one of the greatest in the history of motorsport.
The three men before Vettel who had won four world titles are Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost and Juan Manuel Fangio.
Schumacher won seven titles, including an unmatched five in a row. In all but one of those seasons he did so in a car that was by far the quickest in the field, so much so that he won more than half the races. In one of those years he won 12 of the first 13 races. (At the one he missed out on, Monaco, he was leading until he was involved in a crash with Juan Pablo Montoya.)
Prost won four titles, including back-to-back titles in 1985 and 1986. In three of those seasons he had by far the best car; in 1993 he faced no serious competition elsewhere on the grid, and in 1985 his McLaren was the only car on the grid that didn't constantly break down (second in the championship that year was Michele Alboreto, whose Ferrari was forced to retire in the final four races of the season). In 1989, however, his team-mate at the all-conquering McLaren was one of F1's greatest ever drivers, Ayrton Senna. And in 1986 he won a title despite Nigel Mansell driving the arguably superior Williams (though Mansell wasn't helped by a last-gasp blow-out).
In addition, Prost was denied the 1984 title by Niki Lauda (by half a point, the closest-ever finish to a season); he missed out on the 1988 and 1990 titles because of the genius of Senna; and he fell short in the 1983 title when his turbo blew on lap 35 of the final race of the season.
As for Fangio? He didn't even enter Formula 1 until he was 39 years old. He won the title in 1951 in an Alfa Romeo despite the Ferrari being acknowledged as the better car; missed most of the 1952 season as his Alfa team had been banned for using superchargers; watched helpless as Ferrari won seven out of nine races in 1953; won the title easily in an almost unbeatable Mercedes in 1954; then scrapped his way to the next three titles in an era when the cars were either perfectly evenly matched, or (as in 1956) when fellow legends such as Stirling Moss were driving an identical machine.
All this was played out against a background of constant death and incapacitation: 13 F1 drivers were killed during Fangio's time in the series, and Fangio himself carried on racing at the age of 42 despite breaking his neck while driving in a different racing series during the off-season. He did all this, and retired in 1958 having won an unmatched 46 per cent of his races. His retirement, incidentally, came soon after he was kidnapped after setting the fastest practice times at the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix. (He was released after the race.)
Vettel, by comparison, won tight 2010 and 2012 championships after epic seasons battling with Fernando Alonso, whose Ferrari was generally not quite as quick, but tended to be more reliable. Particularly in 2012, Alonso had to wring his Ferrari's neck to keep it competitive for most of the season; he was acclaimed as the driver of the season by most pundits, and said himself that he felt his second place in the title race was a greater achievement than either of his titles.
In 2011 and 2013, however, his Adrian Newey-designed car was untouchable, and with all the development time poured into making it as good as possible for Vettel, team-mate Mark Webber was generally made to look pretty incompetent by comparison. (Ferrari took the exact same path with Michael Schumacher in the late 1990s, incidentally, and made the very-talented Rubens Barrichello seem equally silly.)
Vettel can't do more than beat the people around him and win the races he's in. The same went for Schumacher, whose dominant spell at Ferrari produced a similarly untouchable and reliable driver-car combination, something that simply wasn't seen on an extended year-in-year-out basis for most of the careers of Prost and Fangio.

How many more titles would Fangio have won had he got started aged 19, as Vettel did, instead of age 39? The answer is unthinkable, but double figures seems certain.
How many consecutive titles might Prost have won had he had more reliable cars in those near-misses in the early years of his career? Or if a driver less talented than Senna had been alongside him at McLaren? Or if that late 1980s technical dominance McLaren enjoyed had lasted the best part of a decade rather than a couple of years?
For that matter, how many titles would Ayrton Senna have won had he not been tragically killed?
And how many titles would Alonso have by now if he'd been driving that Red Bull car for the last four or five years? How many titles would Jenson Button have by now if the Brawn F1's vast advantage over the field in 2009 had lasted five years instead of 12 months?
Motorhead isn't saying Vettel isn't good. He IS good. He's excellent. [not really]
But he's had it easy. He's been lucky. Things have gone his way.
Or, to put it another way, the marathon he's been running has been downhill all the way, while Alonso - to pick just one example - has been running uphill, and doing himself immeasurable credit even keeping Vettel in sight.
So pat Sebastian Vettel on the back, or buy him a drink. Just don't kid yourself that he's fit to be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Fangio or Prost among the legends of the sport.
Maybe he will be one day. But not yet.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

India GP. Technical comment on the Grand Prix: zzzzzzzz... but also: yawnnnnnnn... they're watching the GP... Appropriate 4 times world champion Vettel: symbol of the new meaningless generation, supporting him just because he wins. Also, ruining the statistics and history of F1 (Vettel bigger than Senna? haha what a joke).
Shame it happened in India with a few fans, he should've been booed as always.
Vettel is just a puppet placed there in that seat, everybody could be a champion with Newey's car, also Jules Bianchi.

History repeats itself, now as farce... The joke continues: Horner now says Red Bull wouldn't have won four titles without Vettel... but he's right, because other drivers would have won 5 or 6. I mean, not necessarily because other drivers are better (they are) but because more experienced and probably would've started to win before him, with that car.

absolutely NEW: technical problems for Webber, out.
Red Bull's usual second rate material for him............... To make sure he can't disturb Vettel in any way (in some races also changing his strategy with one for a sure loser). It's not a sporting behaviour. If I was Webber, I would sue them.
Once again: what a joke of a sport has Formula 1 become...
Red Bull could now make him drive Vettel's car for the remaining races...
Also, nice pole position: 4 times 4 wheels off the track. In fact, he wasn't as happy as usual, he knew it... but still happy, shameless bastard.
It's clear Bernie Ecclestone should change something.
As Senna said: if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver...

Sunday, October 13, 2013

SUZUKA - embarrassing... horrendous t-shirt, clearly a German with no style.
Vettel's self-confidence is not self-confidence but arrogance.
Now his previous "hanging their balls in pools" has become "I'm sure they're doing the same (effort)" and he's blaming the "stuff written" obviously... it's the other people's fault eh... not his usual shite tongue.
Clearly needs a driving lesson... If everybody drove a Red Bull, he would be like... 11th.

Now it comes out that the British fans (especially Hamilton fans) who attacked Vettel, they don't find anything strange in Vettel's celebration with his finger... sure, 'cause they're British... for "that" meaning, don't they use the "two fingers"? for other countries it's very different... when we see Vettel's gesture, it's not that meaning but it's quite provoking, there's a thousand better ways to celebrate.
"It's no different to when Schumacher had his Schumacher jump on the podium - it's his trademark so stick with it"...
nah, a jump is not a finger...
and Vettel doesn't care. This is another thing that shows how he's distant from Formula 1 fans... F1 is not football...
"It's amazing how all the Vettel Lovers have come out. Of course these are keyboard jockeys and only support the fastest car which is the Red Bull [with no history]. They soon change their tune when Lewis, Alonso, Raikkonen, Button win and they soon support the fastest Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren".
"He should consider tattooing Adrian Newey's name on it, after all, he's the guy who's really winning these races." ahaha

It's a shame to ruin the statistics, the history of Formula 1... Vettel 4 times world champion, bigger than Senna??? a complete joke. You can imagine how we old fans feel. The people supporting Vettel don't even know who Senna was.
Vettel is just a puppet placed there, symbol of the new meaningless generation.

Horner to Webber (via radio): "unfortunately we lost too much time behind Grosjean"
... as if then they would've let him battle with Vettel...
In fact, they made sure he couldn't win, with a strategy of 3 pit stops... and he was surprised...
what a joke of a team, what a joke of a sport has F1 become...

"...it's easy, driving the best car, but it's like Bayern Munich, with the best players"
(German Schmidt)
what kind of comparison is that... F1 is not football.
It's easy for many F1 people to say good things about Vettel, they want to be politically correct and have no problems in relationships with their colleagues... they're not credible.
Germans should better shut up about football...
Senna would speak the truth about Vettel...

Watching the long interview with Hakkinen on Sky F1, he was moaning about too much promotional work (just like Hamilton) with McLaren. Oh, they were only being paid millions to travel the world...
never liked him. In fact, he didn't get on well with Senna...
rip Maria de Villota.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

MILAN - This is not an event about Formula 1, but sometimes there's something about it, as Button's and Hamilton's helmets, etc.
girls who want to work as hostess @ Eicma 2013 for my sister, let us know and we’ll give you all the info, marco@miamilan.com
There are always many foreign girls too. Some F1 girls are the same of Moto GP.

The biggest motorcycle show in the world. It takes days to see really everything, it’s huge (it’s @ Expo 2015 place, Fiera Milano Rho).
As every year, the models working must be thin (38-40 Italian size dress)

Tuesday, October 08, 2013

MILANO - This year it will start from Northern Ireland (Belfast), and be dedicated to Marco Pantani.
Italian Vincenzo Nibali (on McLaren bike, S-Works) won the Tour of Italy 2013.
Mark Cavendish on McLaren bike won FIVE stages for the fastests cyclists, @ Giro d'Italia 2013...

McLaren the car had a different year...

"...welcome to the world's most beautiful place".

Friday, October 04, 2013

YEONGAM - News of the day: Vettel is an asshole... nothing new. It's easy to speak that way driving that car. Jenson and Rosberg (often beating him without driving a Red Bull) spoke against him.
Shame there are only a few fans in Korea, he would be booed as always.
The people don't even get up early to see the GP... never happened, not even @ Schumacher times, who did some stupid things (against Damon Hill and Villeneuve) but was clearly a great driver.
It's not only about always winning, thanks to a superior car by Newey, there's something Vettel ruined in the F1 "atmosphere" with the things he says. He even thinks to be funny.
Usually a GP was anyway exciting, no matter the final result. Now everytime we see him, we feel nausea.

Nico Rosberg has launched a withering rebuke of Sebastian Vettel, warning that the World Champion is in danger of losing the respect of his fellow drivers following his apparent criticism of Red Bull's rivals.

While Vettel has been robustly supported by the majority of the paddock in the wake of being heckled on the podium at Singapore, it appears that the German's comments in the aftermath of his dominant victory have also caused considerable irritation in some quarters.
"Whilst there's a lot of people hanging their b***s in the pool on Fridays, we're still working very hard and pushing very hard so that we have a strong race," said Vettel on the Singapore podium.
The German has subsequently downplayed his remark, insisting it wasn't meant as an attack on his team's rivals, but that hasn't spared Vettel from a dressing-down by both Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.
"Sebastian brings the boos on himself. He talks about my b***s that I hang in the pool and then the boos come. My guys are working hard day and night. He couldn't know if his boys work harder. We give it full throttle. His comments are aloof and were almost his undoing qualifying," said an angry Rosberg.
"I almost stole pole from him and if I had I would have laughed. Sebastian should think less about my b***s and more about himself. With comments like that he is running the risk of losing the respect of his fellow drivers."
McLaren driver Button was equally unimpressed with Vettel's description, and the 2009 World Champion told the Daily Mail: "It is incorrect and wrong of him to say that.
"We are obviously not doing a good enough job to beat Red Bull and no one is at the moment but that doesn't mean we are not working hard. Every team is working as hard as Red Bull."
But despite the criticism, and the loss of top spot to Lewis Hamilton in practice in Korea after previously topping five successive Fridays, it seems Vettel has not lost his sense of mischief.
"Overall a pretty solid day, we had no issues with the car, and there is room for improvement - especially once we turn on the Traction Control," Vettel quipped to Sky Sports News.
Allegations surfaced in the wake of Vettel's dominant win in Singapore that they are running a form of traction control on their RB9.